Ummmmm, a treasure hunt for glass orbs!? Oh my word, I NEED to go to here. Where is this, you ask? Block Island, 12 miles off the coast of Rhode Island. What is it?  The Glass Float Project, which was started by American artist Eben Horton in 2012. Here’s the gist:

“Hundreds of glass balls – similar to the glass net floats used by Japanese fishermen – are made at Eben’s Studio in Wakefield, RI and are randomly hidden across the Island. Some are hidden along the beaches of the island and some are carefully placed along the island’s miles of Greenway Trails that are maintained by the Nature Conservancy. The rules are simple… If you find one, Keep it! If you find another, please leave it so that someone else can find it. {We ask that if you find one, please register your find with the Block Island Tourism Council. Registering your float helps us keep track of how many floats are out ‘in the wild’.}”

How fantastic is that?! And of course, for 2020, Eben has created a very special orb for the hunt… ‘The Rona’, because yeah, you know.

{via The New York Times, Bio photo by Jillian Freyer for The New York Times}

Gasp! So. Much. Glitter! This is the very personal work of Chicago based artist Moises Salazar. Their artist statement is so powerful, so I’m just gonna let Moises tell you about this work:

“Growing up in Chicago to immigrant parents has cemented a conflict of belonging and safety within my identity. Being first generation, I was thrown into a society that constantly challenges my rights as a U.S. American and targets my community because of their immigration status. I had to survive in a social space that had little regard for the complexities of growing up ethnically Mexican in a racialized society. Safety and security were things that were never a part of my experience while living in the Unite States. With fears of my family being deported I felt alienated by a country I had to pledge myself to. Furthermore, this alienation was reinforced by my queer identity. Being a body that has experienced violence, neglect, and homophobia within and outside my community has become the catalyst of my work. For this reason, the body has become my conceptual focus.

Whether addressing queer or immigrant bodies my practice is tailored to showcase the trauma, history, and barriers these people face. Reflecting on the lack of space and agency they posses, I present my pieces in environments were they can thrive and be safe. The work I create is colorful, innocent, gentle, soft, and safe. The use of clay, paper mache, glitter and crochet are important in my work because of their cultural and personal value. The use of accessible material has always been important in my practice and in the cultural development of my communities. I use material and methods that have been passed down by generation in my family to showcase the importance of their experience and honor their endurance. My art is a vehicle to celebrate the majesty of cultural heritage contrasted with challenges of living safely in the United States as a member of the immigrant and queer communities.”

Bravo! Some of Moises’ work can be seen in “Forget Me Not”, a two person show (also featuring Caroline Liu) at Roots & Culture in Chicago. It will be up until the end of August.

Sometimes you just need to take your paintings outside for an evening stroll… hm, maybe they’re jealous of the murals. These warm geometric landscapes are the work of Santa Fe / Bay Area artist Madeleine Tonzi. She’s currently working on pieces for an upcoming show at Hashimoto Contemporary {San Francisco} in November… but I couldn’t wait that long to write about her work!

Prolific. From what I can tell, American artist Daisy Patton is never NOT painting. These are just a few of the pieces she’s created in 2020… yeah. In a time when so many of us feel stunted by the state of the world, Daisy puts her head down and keeps on adding magenta washes, flowery wallpaper, and meticulous patterns to LARGE scale found images. There are so many things that get me all charged up when I look at Daisy’s work… first, there is so much female power in every single piece – a sisterhood, if you will. And secondly, they make me want to make really big things! The vibrant palettes, the combination of materials, and the scale… love, love, LOVE. Here is part of Daisy’s 2020 artist statement for this ongoing series, titled “Forgetting is so long”:

“By mixing painting with photography, I seek to lengthen Roland Barthes’ “moment of death” (the photograph) into a loving act of remembrance. Bright swathes of color and the use of painted floral patterns underline relationships and connections to the natural world and beyond, adorning and embellishing these relics with devotional marks of care. These nearly forgotten people are transfigured and “reborn” into a fantastical, liminal place that holds both beauty and joy, temporarily suspended from plunging fully into oblivion.”

Sigh. So good. And clearly, I have to show you the scale of some of these beauties, right? Right:

Damn.

My teeth hurt just looking at these beauties! I thought these ridiculously sweet oil paintings were a perfect way to usher in a new week. This is the work of San Francisco based artist Ingrid V. Wells, and all of these treats are part of her ongoing series, ‘Spectacle’. Here’s a little morsel from Ingrid’s artist statement:

Her work fancies the fantastic and humorous in theme and the charming, the kitschy, and the celebrity in subject. Wells’s paintings investigate the world of gendered consumerism and the ethics of fascination.

Now, who wants chocolate cupcakes for breakfast? YUM. ps. Ingrid’s work is available via Voss Gallery {San Francisco}.

Happy Saturday! This feels like an intro to the podcast, but it isn’t {the podcast will be back this fall though}.

I don’t usually write about my own work here, but I’m pretty proud of this feat … I’m not sure how I pulled this off, but somewhere between having major surgery and now, I made 18 new small pieces {15 panels, 3 sculptures} for an art show at Ian Tan Gallery in Vancouver. It’s titled “appreciating the little things” because, well, 2020. If this shit show of a year has taught me anything, it’s to embrace the joy that comes from things like baked goods, pets, and the couch.*PLEASE NOTE: all tiny people in the pieces are socially distanced! Here is my artist statement and some of the work. You can see the entire show right here.

DANIELLE KRYSA
appreciating the little things
Aug 20 – 31, 2020 {preview is on as of Aug 15!}

Walks around the block, perfectly pink sunsets, freshly baked pie, and actually being home to water the plants. Before March 2020, most of us took these simple pleasures for granted — and then, whether we liked it or not, we were forced to embrace them… sourdough bread, anyone? While this new ‘normal’ has caused a rollercoaster of emotions for the entire world, there are silver linings. We’ve slowed down. We’ve discovered how much we love hugs. We’ve given Mother Nature a chance to catch her breath. We’ve taken our dogs for walks, watched the sun set, baked everything, and watched our gardens grow.

This show is filled with 18 small mixed media pieces — both panels and sculptures — that celebrate all of ‘the little things’ I overlooked while being too busy to notice. Tiny people snipped from the pages of old books, explore each of these wonders, marveling at their magnificence. There truly is so much beauty surrounding us all the time, we just have to stop long enough to see it. Here’s to appreciating “the little things”.

And that’s that. Thanks for looking/reading. Have a lovely weekend ~ Danielle

Sigh. Venice 2019… that feels like a zillion years ago. This breathtaking sculptural light installation is the work of Netherlands based, Spanish artist Nacho Carbonell. “Inside a Forest Cloud” is the title of the large chandelier, and yes, that’s exactly where I’d like to be right now… inside a forest cloud. The grouping as a whole is titled “Monumental” and was part of one of my favorite shows in Venice last summer, “Dysfunctional” at Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca’ d’Oro. Here are Nacho’s words about why he does what he does:

“I like to see objects as living organisms, imagining them coming alive and being able to surprise you with their behaviour. I want to create objects with my hands, then I can give them my personality. I turn them into communicative objects that can arouse one’s sensations and imagination. In short, what I want to create are objects with a fictional or fantasy element, that allow you to escape everyday life.”

Yes. YES. Escaping everyday life sounds fantastic right now. Happy Friday.

These breathtaking portraits {oil on canvas} are the work of Ghana-born, now Portland-based artist Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe. The scale, the color choices, and those stare into your soul gazes… chills. Here is Otis’ artist statement:

Otis Quaicoe’s figuration is built upon a palette where color becomes its own language of transformation, be it social, political or personal. These are images of empowerment and redemption, sophistication and humility, curiosity and quietude. Each figure becomes a symbol of the reclamation of cultural dignity, embracing the idea of origin and personal narrative as it relates to gender and race dynamics.

Neatly folded, pattern-covered, gouache shirts… uh, YES, PLEASE! What a brilliant way to approach a regular old rectangular panel! This is the work of UK based artist Hannah Knox, and I’m considering filling my entire closet with these beauties instead of actual clothes. If you feel the same, contact Hannah at hlknox@hotmail.com to inquire about purchasing… but FYI, she’s got a waiting list. Not surprised at all.

{found via Create Magazine’s IG}

Oh. My. Word. This is “Ecology of Time”, 2018… zillions and zillions of found beads made of glass, leaded-crystal, Swarovski crystal, ceramic, plastic, acrylic, resin, bakelite, mother-of-pearl, shell, pearls, jade, agate, and the list goes on! This suspended stunner is the work of Australian artist Louise Meuwissen. She has been “painting with found materials” since art school, and I could not love this more! Oh, hold on a second…

“I’m a collector by nature, and have always loved the treasure hunt of second hand shopping at op-shops and markets. I’m attracted to objects that contain a certain level of care, communicate something of a specific time or place, or otherwise feel particularly precious. I love things that are handmade, have bold or unusual prints, are made from luxurious materials, or evoke some sort of nostalgia.”

Okay, love is now officially through the roof.

*Quote above via this interview Louise did with Obus in August 2019.